The Dogs won Friday’s series opener thanks to a dominant performance by starter Michael Bowden. The calculated veteran threw seven strikeouts in six scoreless innings along with only one hit and one walk allowed. Of Bowden’s 97 pitches, 68 were strikes. The Dogs offense attacked Gary starter Josh Vincent to take care of business early, gifting a pair of runs in the first.

The Dogs batted around later in the fourth inning to add a run to their 3-0 lead. Reliever Ryan Clark ran into some trouble after replacing Shane Barringer in the eighth inning, allowing Gary’s only run. Jeff Kinley took over in the ninth to earn his 15th save.

The Dogs stood victorious after an exciting back-and-forth game in Gary. Despite starter John Baker exiting in the third, Butch Hobson’s bullpen survived waves of offense.

The Dogs trailed 2-0 before unloading in the third inning with a four-run tally. Gary responded with two runs on two costly errors to tie 4-4 in the fourth. K.C. Hobson led off the following inning with a sky-scraping solo home run for his 20th of the year. Becoming a thorn in the Dogs’ side, Gary repeated for another two-run inning off two triples in the fifth, putting Gary ahead, 6-5. The Dogs brought the damage in the seventh and eighth innings to put them ahead 8-6. Then closer Cam Booser served three consecutive strikeouts to secure the Dogs’ sixth-straight series win.

Sunday’s getaway day victory for the Dogs was one to remember. The extra innings comeback against Gary put the Dogs’ resilience to the test. Gary’s lone run came early in the first inning after starter Kyle Murphy ran into trouble and gave up a run on a ground ball. But following the shaky first frame, Murphy appeared unbothered. The rookie remained scoreless until he was replaced in the sixth by Ryan Clark.

And after being held scoreless for seven innings by Gary starter John Sheaks, the Dogs pounced on the RailCats relief pitching.  With Danny Mars at the plate in the eighth, the Dogs took the lead 2-1 on an RBI single to score Brennan Metzger.

The tension in the ballpark was stomach-turning in the ninth. Cam Booser walked Gary’s Hayden Schilling on a full count with only one out. Facing the ninth batter in the Gary lineup next, Booser knew what he had to do. Brandon Zaragoza had the opportunity to be the RailCats walk-off hero until Booser fired to first base to pickoff Schilling. What followed after could’ve been Schilling’s moment of fame, when he lined a double into the left-field corner. Thankfully for the Dogs, Booser’s quick move saved the ballgame.

Fortunately for the Dogs, more things would go their way in extras. A passed ball from Gary relief pitcher Yoel De Leon allowed Metzger and Mars to easily advance to second and third. This was the perfect setup for Johnny Adams following a Grier walk to load the bases. Adams took advantage with an RBI single to score the go-ahead run for the Dogs.